The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the economy of the world. Businesses are trying hard to shift to the ‘new normal’ – going digital.  While COVID-19 has brought unique challenges, it has also brought fresh opportunities for India in the manufacturing sector. Foreign companies are now looking at India as an alternative to China where many suppliers have gone bankrupt because of the pandemic. In an interview with SMBStory, Isha Chaudhary, Director at CRISIL Ltd, says there are several ways how Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India can speed up their recovery. Besides stressing on taking the digital route, Isha says the pandemic has also given an opportunity to MSMEs to expand their export market and leverage the same.  She spoke about the impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs, the sectors that are worst affected, and what the road to recovery looks like for this sector. Isha Chaudhary [IC]: At CRISIL, we track 70 MSMEs across 145 clusters. MSMEs have been hit in the first quarter. We project at least 20-22 percent decline in the revenues of the sector. The decline is higher in the export-linked sector. There is an immense drop in the textiles industry, gems, jewellery, and the automotive sectors. The lockdown and large-scale labour migration have also impacted the construction and the real estate sector. MSMEs were witnessing a modest growth of 4-5 percent since the last two to three years. That has taken a big hit as sales are not happening.

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